Future of Jeremy Bentley, admitted killer of Lucedale man in 2000, again uncertain long after insanity plea

MOBILE, Alabama – More than 14 years after he killed a man "just to see what it was like," state officials are still trying to figure out the best way to deal with Jeremy Shawn Bentley.

Bentley, 36, was found not guilty of capital murder by reason of mental disease or mental defect in the beating and strangulation death of 24-year-old Jamie Ray Tolbert. Tolbert, an emergency medical technician from Lucedale, was killed after a New Year's Eve 2000 celebration in Biloxi.

Bentley had admitted killing him, and was ultimately convicted by a jury, but that verdict was overturned on appeal. And in 2005, then-Circuit Court Judge Herman Thomas found him not guilty due to what's commonly known as the insanity plea, after prosecution and defense experts testified that he was mentally incompetent.

Since then, Bentley's been a patient at Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility in Tuscaloosa. And on Tuesday the debate picked up once again before Circuit Court Judge Michael Youngpeter over who can best care for a man many experts maintain is not mentally ill, and may never have been.

Dr. John Toppins, director of psychology services at Taylor Hardin, on Tuesday said Bentley has had one significant incident since 2012, which involved him punching a Vietnamese patient once, knocking the man unconscious. In the wake of the incident, Bentley "wasn't particularly angry or likely to strike out again" Toppins said.

He is currently taking two anti-depressants and an anti-anxiety medication, and even though Bentley's been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, the doctor said "I don't feel like he has this."

Toppins said they are currently treating him for mild depression and mild anxiety, which besides the medication includes some group therapy, although Bentley isn't required to attend those sessions.

"Right this minute he's not doing anything, but as a long-term case I would consider him dangerous," but not mentally ill, he said.

That distinction could land Bentley under the care of the Department of Corrections and its medical staff, something attorneys for the prison system say they're not set up to do. Especially since he's not been convicted of any crime, and is difficult to categorize for incarceration.

District Attorney Ashley Rich, once again adamantly opposing Bentley's release on any grounds, said no matter what, she wants to make sure he stays in some sort of custody and out of society.

"The bottom line is he poses a danger to the community," Rich told Judge Youngpeter. "He is to be nowhere near our community."

As for his being dangerous, and the threat he still may pose to the staff at Taylor Hardin, the judge was clear on his opinions.

"He's so far scarier than all of the other capital murder defendants I've seen in my court," Youngpeter said of Bentley. "I still believe that the staff over there is afraid of this guy.

"If I worked over there, I'd be scared to death of this guy."

Nancy Jones, an attorney for the Department of Mental Health, said that even if Bentley is not mentally ill, Taylor Hardin is still the best place to house him.

"We have to do the best we can do under the circumstances," she said. "We believe that we're the appropriate place for him to be managed at this point."